Attacks on Education Jump 40% to 8,556 Incidents, Harming 10,600 in 2024-2025
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 15
Attacks on Education Jump 40% to 8,556 Incidents, Harming 10,600 in 2024-2025
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 15
Summary
More than 8,556 attacks on education were recorded across 83 countries in 2024 and 2025, with 10,600 students and staff killed, injured, abducted, arrested or otherwise harmed, according to new GCPEA research.
The report links the surge to a weakening multilateral system, impunity for war crimes and aid cuts, while military occupation of schools and universities nearly doubled 91% to 1,912 cases.
Palestine saw at least 2,400 attacks on students and staff, and Ukraine about 900 attacks on schools; the highest victim totals were in Myanmar, Nigeria, Yemen and Cameroon, where more than 1,700 people were killed or injured.
Nigeria recorded more than 700 student and staff kidnappings, and the report found women and girls were specifically targeted in at least 11 countries, underscoring what researchers called increasingly strategic attacks.
The findings come as interstate conflict hit its highest level since World War Two, with Uppsala University counting 65 conflicts in 2025 and more than 244,000 deaths from organized violence.